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Cooking creamy scrambled eggs is often done by adding milk, butter or creme fraiche to the pan, though according to Southern American icon Dolly Parton, there’s one ingredient that’s even better. To make her eggs perfectly fluffy every time, the country singer swaps dairy products for water – but it has to be ice cold. Here’s how to try it yourself.
In an interview with Insider, Dolly revealed that adding a couple of drops of iced water is all you need for perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs every time.
She told the US website: “Somebody told me this once and it works. When you crack your eggs in the bowl, say if you’re going to scramble them, use ice water.
“Put a few drops of ice water as you’re cooking them and that makes them fluffier — it really does!”
While adding liquids like milk or water to your eggs can often leave a watery residue, the temperature of the water means it can gently steam when heated in the pan.
Of course, you should avoid adding too much water as it could dilute the flavour making your eggs tasteless.
As a general rule, it is best to use no more than one tablespoon of water per egg and to add it in during the whisking stage before heating the mixture into a pan.
Though you don’t need to add anything else to achieve a creamy consistency, you should still grease the pan before cooking. You can do this with a small amount of butter over low-medium heat.
When it comes to cooking the eggs, a low and slow method using a well-seasoned pan is best to avoid scorching them too quickly. This also allows the cold water to gently warm up and steam them for extra fluffiness.
As the mixture cooks, use a spatula to pull the eggs from the edges of the pan to the centre, creating large curds.
For a mousse-like finish, you can use a whisking motion instead – just take care not to spill it.
This will stop the eggs from turning crispy on the outer corners and ensure a silky smooth texture throughout.
To maintain the creaminess of your scrambled mixture, it is best to remove the pan from the heat just before the eggs are fully cooked as they will continue to do so for minutes after.
According to Dawn Perry, a digital food editor at Bon Appetit, this is known as “carryover cooking” and happens with all proteins. She noted that if you’re serving your eggs at the table, you should consider moving them onto a serving platter instead.
This is because keeping them in a hot pan will “do nothing but cook the eggs”.
While Dolly’s cheap and easy water hack means you can skip additives like milk and cream, you can still flavour your fluffy eggs with other ingredients.
Whether you like cheese, herbs, salt, or pepper, adding them in at the right time is essential if you want perfectly textured eggs.
Though many people season their eggs at the whisking stage, it is best to save the extra flavours until the very last minute.
The food expert at Bon Appetit noted that the “key” is to use shredded cheese that melts quickly and should be added after you remove the pan from the heat when they are almost finished cooking.
Fresh herbs and seasoning should also be sprinkled on just before digging into the eggs, even if it’s just salt and pepper.
Otherwise, the salt can draw out the moisture from the eggs which could leave them dry instead of creamy.
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